Saints Cosmas and Damian the Holy Unmercenaries of Asia, and their mother Theodota

These Saints were from Asia (that is, Asia Minor). After the death of their father, their Christ-loving mother Theodota reared them in piety and in all manner of virtue, and had them instructed in every science, especially that of medicine. This became their vocation, and they went about healing every illness and malady, bestowing healing freely on both men and beasts alike; because of this, they are called “Unmercenaries.” And thus, having completed the course of their life, they reposed in peace.

Apolytikion of Unmercenaries Cosmas and Damian in the Plagal of the Fourth Tone

O glorious, wonderworking physicians, having received the grace of healing, you reach out and restore health to those in need. But also, by your visitation you cast down the arrogance of the enemy, healing the world through miracles.

These Martyrs contested in Persia about the year 330, in the reign of Sapor (Shapur) II, King of Persia (325-379). Akindynos, Pegasios, and Anempodistos, Persian Christians, confessed Christ before the King, and were put to many torments. Aphthonius and Elpidephoros, drawn to the Faith of Christ through the Martyrs, were beheaded with another 7000. Saints Akindynos, Pegasios, and Anempodistos were at last burned to death. Two churches were dedicated in their honour in Constantinople. As is often the case in church hymns, there is a play on the meanings of the Saints’ names here. Akindynos means “unimperilled”; Pegasios is derived from pegazo (“to gush forth”); Aphthonios is derived from aphthonos (“abundant”); Elpidephoros means “hope-bearing”; Anempodistos means “unhindered”. These are all Greek translations of their Persian names.

Dismissal Hymn (Second Tone)

Blessed is the earth that drank your blood, O prizewinners of the Lord, and holy are the tabernacles that received your spirit; for in the stadium ye triumphed over the enemy, and you proclaimed Christ with boldness. Beseech Him, we pray, since He is good, to save our souls.

Kontakion (First Tone)

As five unerring stars of the great Sun of Glory, the soldiers of Christ God brightly shone on the whole earth, dispelling the gloom of passions and pouring abundant grace on all of the faithful without cease and unhindered; and they grant salvation that no sin can imperil, through hope that is full of faith.

Martyrs Acepsimas the Bishop, Joseph the Presbyter and Haiphal the Deacon of Persia were leaders of the Christian Church in the Persian city of Naesson. His flock devotedly loved their hierarch for his ascetic life and tireless pastoral work. The emperor Sapor ordered his men to seek out and kill Christian clergy. St. Acepsimas also was arrested, even though he was already an 80 year-old man. They Acepsimas him to the city of Arbela, where he came before the judge Ardarkh, a pagan priest of the sun god. The holy Elder refused to offer sacrifice to the Persian gods. For this, he was fiercely beaten and thrown into prison, where on the following day the 70-year-old Presbyter Joseph and Deacon Aeithalas were severely beaten and thrown into jail with him. For three years, the Saints were held in confinement, and suffered from hunger and thirst.

Emperor Sapor came to the temple of the god of fire, located not far from Arbela, and wanted to look at the three holy martyrs. Exhausted and covered with festering wounds, the saints were brought before the emperor. When he asked them to worship the pagan gods they firmly refused, confessing their faith in Christ instead. The holy Bishop was beheaded, but the Presbyter and Deacon were taken into the city to be stoned.

The execution of Presbyter Joseph was prolonged for several hours. A guard was placed near the place of execution, so that Christians would not take the body of the holy martyr. On the fourth night, a strong windstorm raged near the city, lightning killed the guard, the wind tossed stones about, and the body of St. Joseph disappeared.

Deacon Aeithalas was taken to the village of Patrias, where he was stoned. Christians secretly buried his body. A tree grew on the saint’s grave, and its fruit brought healings.

Dismissal Hymn (Fourth Tone)

Your Martyrs, O Lord, in their courageous contest for You received as the prize the crowns of incorruption and life from You, our immortal God. For since they possessed Your strength, they cast down the tyrants and wholly destroyed the demons’ powerless presumption. O Christ God, by their prayers, save our souls, since You are merciful.

Kontakion (Second Tone)

The Mysteries of Christ you venerably celebrated, becoming a sacrifice that He received; for the cup of Christ you drank in glory, O wise Acepsimas, with thy fellow athletes, O Saint, and ceaselessly pray Christ for all of us.

Dedication of the Temple of the Holy Great Martyr George in Lydda

The consecration of the Church of Saint George in Lydda of Palestine took place during the reign of Saint Constantine the Great. See also April 23.

Apolytikion of Dedication of the Temple of St. George in the Fourth Tone

Liberator of captives, defender of the poor, physician of the sick, and champion of kings, O trophy-bearer, Great Martyr George, intercede with Christ God that our souls be saved.

Kontakion of Dedication of the Temple of St. George in the Plagal of the Fourth Tone

As we the faithful flee for refuge unto thee, O George, and thy protection and thy speedy help, we now entreat, O prizewinner of Christ Saviour, that we who hymn thee be delivered from the snares laid by the enemy and from every kind of peril and adversity, that we all may cry: Rejoice, O holy Great Martyr George.

We Also Celebrate Today:

Holy Father and New Hieromartyr Gregory of NeapolisTheodore the Confessor, Bishop of AncyraGeorge of Neapolis the New MartyrWinifred of Treffynnon

St Ioannikos the Great

St Ioannikos the Great was born in Bithynia during 752 AD in the village of Marikat. His parents were destitute and could not provide him even the basics of an education. From childhood, he had to tend the family cattle, their sole wealth. Love for God and prayer completely dominated the soul of the child Ioannikos. Often, having shielded the herd with the Sign of the Cross, he went to a secluded place and spent the whole day praying, and neither thieves nor wild beasts came near his herd.

By order of the emperor Leo IV (775-780 AD), a multitude of officials went through the cities and towns to draft young men for military service. Young Ioannikos was also drafted into the imperial army. He earned the respect of his fellow soldiers for his good disposition, but he was also a brave soldier who struck fear in the hearts of his enemies. St Ioannikos served in the imperial army for six years. More than once his commanders and the emperor rewarded him. However, military service weighed heavily on him; his soul thirsted for spiritual deeds and solitude.

St Ioannikos, having renounced the world, longed to go at once into the wilderness. However, on the advice of an Elder experienced in monastic life, he spent a further two years at the monastery. Here the saint became accustomed to monastic obedience, to monastic rules and practices. He studied reading and writing, and he learned thirty Psalms of David by heart. After this, commanded by God to go to a certain mountain, the monk withdrew into the wilderness. For three years, he remained in deep solitude in the wilderness, and only once a month a shepherd brought him some bread and water. The ascetic spent day and night in prayer and psalmody. After each verse of singing, the Psalms St Ioannikos made a prayer, which the Orthodox Church keeps to this day in a somewhat altered form, “The Father is my hope, the Son is my refuge, the Holy Spirit is my protection”.

By chance, he encountered some of his former companions from military service. The saint fled the wilderness and withdrew to Mount Kountourea to hide himself from everyone. Only after 12 years of ascetic life did the hermit accept monastic tonsure. The Saint spent three years in seclusion after being tonsured wrapped in chains, Then he went to a place called Chelidon to see the great ascetic St George (commemorated February 21). The ascetics spent three years together. During this time, St Ioannikos learned the entire Psalter by heart. As he grew older, St Ioannikos settled in the Antidiev monastery and dwelt there in seclusion until his death.

St Ioannikos spent 70 years in ascetic deeds and attained to a high degree of spiritual perfection. Through the mercy of God, the Saint acquired the gift of prophecy, as his disciple Pachomius has related. The Elder also levitated above the ground when he prayed. Once, he crossed a river flooded to overflowing. The Saint could make himself invisible for people and make others also hidden from sight.

Once, St Ioannikos led Greek captives out of prison under the very eyes of the guards. Poison and fire, with which the envious wanted to destroy the Saint, did him no harm, and predatory beasts did not touch him. He freed the island of Thasos from a multitude of snakes. St Ioannikos also saved a young nun who was preparing to leave the monastery to marry; he took upon himself the agonized maiden’s suffering of passion and by fasting and prayer, he overcame the seductive assault of the devil.

Foreseeing his death, St Ioannikos fell asleep in the Lord on November 4, 846 AD, at the age of 94.

Dismissal Hymn (Plagal of the Fourth Tone)

By a flood of tears you made the desert fertile, and your longing for God brought forth fruits in abundance. By the radiance of miracles you illumined the whole universe! O our holy father Ioannikos, pray to Christ our God to save our souls!

Kontakion (Fourth Tone)

Today we celebrate together your honoured memory, and we faithfully beseech you, O holy Ioannikos that we may find mercy with the Lord!

The Holy Hieromartyrs Nicander, Bishop of Myra, and Hermias the Presbyter

The holy Martyrs Nikandros and Hermias were ordained by the holy Apostle Titus. When they had drawn many to the Faith of Christ, they were accused to Libanius, the Count of the city of Myra, where, after suffering many torments, they were enclosed in a tomb alive, and thus surrendered their spirits into the hands of God.

Apolytikion of Nikandros, Bishop of Myra in the Fourth Tone

As a sharer of the ways and a successor to the throne of the Apostles, O inspired of God, thou foundest discipline to be a means of ascent to divine vision. Wherefore, having rightly divided the word of truth, thou didst also contest for the Faith even unto blood, O Hieromartyr Nicander. Intercede with Christ our God that our souls be saved.

Kontakion of Nikandros, Bishop of Myra in the Third Tone

With your preaching as a plough, ye tilled men’s souls with your doctrines, for ye had yourselves been sown by Christ’s wise husbandman, Titus. Wherefore, ye became your Master’s martyric harvest, brought to Him as fruitful sheaves of sacred confession, O Nicander and Hermias, when ye contested unto the death for His sake.

We Also Celebrate Today:

Porphyrios the MimeEmperor John Batatze, the MercifulGeorge Karslidis of Pontos

Galaktion and his wife Episteme, the Martyrs of Emesa

The Divine Apostle, recounting the achievements of the Saints, and setting forth their memorial as an example for us to turn away from earthly things and sin, and emulate their patience and courage in the struggles for virtue, says, “therefore we also are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every burden, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us” (Heb 12:1).

Guided by the teaching of the Holy Scriptures and Apostolic Tradition, we honour the Saints, who are friends of God who keep His commandments, are shining examples of virtue, and are benefactors of mankind. Of course, we honour the known Saints on their own day of the year. However, many Saints are unknown and their number increases with time, so the Church has appointed that once a year a common commemoration be made of all the Saints on All Saints Day. This is the harvest of the coming of the Holy Spirit into the world; it is the “much fruit” brought forth by that “Grain of wheat that fell into the earth and died” (John 12:24); it is the glorification of the Saints as “the foundation of the Church, the Gospel’s perfection, they who fulfilled in deed the sayings of the Saviour” (Sunday of All Saints, Doxasticon of Vespers).

Let us worship the Word, O ye faithful, praising Him that with the Father and the Spirit is co-beginningless God, Who was born of a pure Virgin that we all be saved; for He was pleased to mount the Cross in the flesh that He assumed, accepting thus to endure death. And by His glorious rising, He also willed to resurrect the dead.

O Protection of Christians that cannot be put to shame, mediation unto the creator most constant: O despise not the voices of those who have sinned; but be quick, O good one, to come unto our aid, who in faith cry unto thee: Hasten to intercession and speed thou to make supplication, O thou who dost ever protect, O Theotokos, them that honor thee.

St Paul the Confessor, Patriarch of Constantinople

St Paul was from Thessalonica. He became the secretary of Alexander, Patriarch of Constantinople (commemorated August 30), a deacon, and then the successor of St Alexander in about 337 AD. Because of his virtue, his eloquence in teaching, and his zeal for Orthodoxy, the Arians hated and feared him. When the Arian Emperor Constantios, who was in Antioch, learned of Paul’s election, he exiled Paul and proclaimed the Arian Eusebius Patriarch. St Paul went to Rome, where he found St Athanasios the Great also in exile. Provided with letters by Pope Julius, Paul returned to Constantinople, and after the death of Eusebius in 342 AD, ascended again his rightful throne; the Arians meanwhile elected Macedonios, because he rejected the Son’s con-substantiality with the Father (and the divinity of the Holy Spirit besides). When Constantios, yet at Antioch, learned of Paul’s return, he sent troops to Constantinople to drive Paul out.

The Saint returned to Rome, where St Athanasios also was again in exile. Constans, Emperor of the West, Constantius’ brother, but Orthodox, wrote to Constantios that if Athanasios and Paul were not allowed to return to their sees, he would come with troops to restore them him-self. So Paul again returned to his throne. After the death of Constans, however, Constantios had Paul deposed. Because of the love of the people for St Paul, Philip the Prefect, who was sent for him, was compelled to arrest him secretly to avoid a sedition. Paul was banished to Cucusus, on the borders of Cilicia and Armenia; a town through which his most illustrious successor, St John Chrysostom would also pass on his way to Comana in his last exile. In Cucusus, about 350 AD, as St Paul was celebrating the Divine Liturgy in the little house where he was a prisoner, the Arians strangled him with his own omophorion, so much did they fear him even in exile. His holy relics were brought back to Constantinople with honour by the Emperor Theodosios the Great.

Dismissal Hymn (Third Tone)

Your confession of the one divine Faith showed you to the Church to be a new Paul and a zealot among priests, O holy one. The righteous blood of both Abel and Zachary with you cry out together to the Lord. Righteous Father, intercede with Christ God in our behalf that His great mercy may be granted to us.

Kontakion (Second Tone)

You shun on earth, a star bright with celestial light, and now you shine enlightenment on all the Church, in behalf of which you struggled, laying down your life, O Paul, and like Abel and Zachary, your blood cries out most clearly to the Lord.

Our Righteous Father Lazarus the Wonderworker

Our righteous Father Lazarus the Wonderworker of Mount Galesius near Ephesus was born in Lydia, in the city of Magnesium. An educated young man who loved God, Lazarus became a monk at the monastery of St Sava, the founder of great ascetic piety in Palestine. The monk spent ten years within the walls of the monastery, winning the love and respect of the brethren for his intense monastic struggles.

Ordained Presbyter by the Patriarch of Jerusalem, St Lazarus returned to his native country and settled near Ephesus, on desolate Mount Galesius. Here he saw a wondrous vision: a fiery pillar, rising up to the heavens, was encircled by angels singing, “Let God arise and let His enemies be scattered”. On the place where the saint beheld this vision, he built a church in honour of the Resurrection of Christ and took upon himself the feat of pillar-dwelling. Monks soon began to flock to the great ascetic, thirsting for wise spiritual nourishment by the divinely inspired word and blessed example of the saint, and a monastery was established there. Having received a revelation about his impeding end, the monk told the brethren, but through the tearful prayers of all, the Lord prolonged the earthly life of St Lazarus for another 15 years.

St Lazarus died at 72 years of age, in 1053 AD. The brethren buried the body of the Saint at the pillar upon which he had pursued asceticism. He was glorified by many miracles after his death.

Dismissal Hymn (Plagal of the Fourth Tone)

In your vigilant prayers, you drenched your pillar with streams of tears; by thy sightings from the depths, you beared fruit a hundredfold in labours; and you became a shepherd, granting forgiveness to them that came to you, O our righteous Father Lazarus. Intercede with Christ God that our souls be saved.

Kontakion (Fourth Tone)

With great joy, the Church of Christ glorifies you on this day with psalmic hymns as a great light to us all; hence never cease to intercede with Christ to grant the forgiveness of sins to all.

The 33 Martyrs of Melitene

These holy Martyrs confessed during the reign of Diocletian and Maximian in the year 290. Of them, Saint Hieron was from Tyana in Cappadocia, a husbandman, of great bodily strength and high nobility of soul. As he was at work digging in his field, certain soldiers came to impress him into military service. He, however, not wishing to keep company with the impious, refused, and with his wooden tool alone drove away the armed soldiers, who fled in fear because of his strength. Later, however, he went of his own free will, and confessed Christ before the governor. His right hand was cut off, and he was imprisoned with thirty-two others, whom he strengthened in the Faith of Christ. Together they were all beheaded outside the city of Melitene in Armenia.

Apolytikion of 33 Martyrs of Militene in the Fourth Tone

Thy Martyrs, O Lord, in their courageous contest for Thee received as the prize the crowns of incorruption and life from Thee, our immortal God. For since they possessed Thy strength, they cast down the tyrants and wholly destroyed the demons’ strengthless presumption. O Christ God, by their prayers, save our souls, since Thou art merciful.

Kontakion of 33 Martyrs of Militene in the Fourth Tone

The choir of Martyrs, shining far and light-bearing, hath dawned today and with the bright shafts of wonders hath made the Church resplendent with noetic light; wherefore, as we celebrate their most solemn remembrance, O our Saviour, we entreat that through their intercessions Thou rescue us from dangers of all kinds, as the most merciful God and the Friend of man.

Synaxis of the Archangel Michael and the other Bodiless Powers: Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Salaphiel, Jegudiel and Barachiel

Angels were created as messengers of God. The Scriptures reveal that God created nine orders of angels: Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones, Dominations, Principalities, Powers, Virtues, Archangels, and Angels. Out of this order come the familiar seven Archangels which include Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Raguel, Sariel, and the fallen Lucifer. Before outlining the roles of the two that have been most prominent with man in the divine plan of the universe, it is required to cite him who has been the source of evil in our world with whom others, divine and mortal have had to contend with over the centuries since the dawn of man.

Lucifer, whose ambitions were a distortion of God’s plan, is known to us as the fallen angel, with the use of many names, among which are Satan, Belial, Beelzebub and the Devil. An outcast since his expulsion from Paradise, this force of evil has been a thorn in the side of mankind and in all probability responsible for the miseries which Christianity has been striving to eliminate throughout the world.

The Archangel Michael is the outstanding figure in the eyes of the Greek Orthodox Church and is depicted in the many houses of worship in an icon always on the extreme left where he is pictured as a guardian of Paradise from whence Adam and Eve were evicted. In some icons he is seen with a flaming sword as a symbol of the righteousness that called for the casting out of the Garden of Eden of Adam and Eve after they had fallen victim to Satan in the form of a serpent. Among other things, it was Archangel Michael who was sent by God to countermand the command of God himself that Abraham sacrifice the life of his own son Isaac. Archangel Michael was also the messenger who warned Lot to flee from the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Archangel Michael’s involvement with mankind is also seen in other ways, including his protection of Jacob from the wrath of his brother Esau over a matter of inheritance for which there are probate courts today. The Scriptures also tell us that it was Michael who battled the Devil for the soul of Moses following the death of the founder of the Israel nation. The Devil based his claim on the soul of the great Moses on the basis of Moses having killed an Egyptian prior to the Exodus, but the defence of the monumental figure of the Bible by Michael saved the soul of Moses from the clutches of Satan.

We are further told that it was Michael who stood by Joshua during his first encounter with his enemies in the land of Canaan. Mentioned in the New Testament numerous times, in which his lofty position is recognised, accounting for many miracles recounted as being attributed to the handiwork of Michael, chief of which is the changing of the course of a river at a place called Chonais in Asia Minor. Michael’s many miracles are commemorated by the church on September 6 of each calendar year.

A sweep of the eyes to the other end of the icon screen in Greek Orthodox churches falls on the Icon of Gabriel, seeming like twin sentinel with Michael over all mankind. Gabriel’s name is synonymous with redemption, particularly since he was chosen to be sent by God to bring the electrifying news to the Virgin Mary that she was about to become the mother of God. What ensued changed the course of history and brought the promise of the deliverance of man through Jesus Christ. On the left is the symbol of guilt, on the right the symbol of salvation and between those can be seen the inspiring spiritual greats who have woven an enduring fabric to clothe all mankind and keep him from exposures that are life threatening.

Few are aware of the assignments of the lesser known and not so often mentioned saints, aside from Michael and Gabriel and the fallen one. Scant mention is made of the others but much could be made out of their responsibilities as ordained by God through painstaking study of Scriptures which the average reader overlooks because of what is considered more interesting or engrossing. Gabriel is principally mentioned in the Book of Daniel but there are others who have been mentioned who could do with considerably more attention.

Too little is said of Raguel, who is in charge of the spirits of humans but Sariel, whose duties are not defined whose role as avenger upon the world of lights is somewhat confusing. This brings us down to Sariel, whose duties are not clearly defined. However there is a clear definition of Uriel’s role as leader of angelic hosts who guard the underworld (Sheol).

Dismissal Hymn (Fourth Tone)

O Commanders of the Heavenly Host, we the unworthy beseech you, that through your entreaties you will fortify us, guarding us in the shelter of the wings of your ethereal glory, even as we fervently bow before you crying: “Deliver us from all danger, as Commanders of the Powers on high! ”

Kontakion (Second Tone)

Chief Commanders of God; ministers of divine glory; guides for men and leadership of the Incorporeal; as Chief Commanders of the Incorporeal, plead for our welfare and for great mercy.

Nektarios the Wonderworker, Metropolitan of Pentapolis

The divine Nektarios of Aegina, is one of the most widely known of Greek Orthodox Saints. He was born on October 1st, 1846 in Silyvria, in Asia Minor (now occupied by Turkey). At Holy Baptism he was given the name Anastasios. His parents were simple pious Christians. They brought him up in a manner pleasing to God, and did what their very limited means allowed for his formal education.

Having completed elementary school in his hometown, he left for the great city of Constantinople at the age of 14. There, he found employment as a shop assistant and was able to earn a meager living. As well as regularly attending the Divine Liturgy, he also read the Holy Scriptures and Writings of the Holy Fathers of the Church on a daily basis. From his wide reading, the young Anastasios made a collection of wise sayings, which he fervently spread to the customers of his store by writing them on the paper used to wrap their goods. He was selected to teach the lower grades of the orphanage of the All-Holy Sepulchre in Constantinople.

This allowed him to continue his studies, for he longed to become a Theologian. In 1866, at the age of 20, Anastasios went to the island of Chios, where he was appointed a teacher. After 7 years, he entered into the local monastery, under the care of the venerable elder Pachomios. After 3 years as a novice Athanasios was tonsured a Monk and given the name Lazarus. A year later, he was ordained a Deacon and received the name Nektarios. Elder Pachomios, and a wealthy local benefactor convinced the young monk to complete his high school studies in Athens. From there Deacon Nektarios went to Alexandria, where he was cared for by the Patriarch of Alexandria, Sophronios. The Patriarch insisted that Nektarios complete his Theological studies, and so in 1885 he graduated from the School of Theology in Athens. The Patriarch of Alexandria ordained Deacon Nektarios to the Priesthood in 1886. His great service to the Church, prolific writings and teachings, energy and zeal led Fr Nektarios to be ordained as the Metropolitan of Pentapolis in Egypt.

As a Metropolitan he was greatly admired and loved by his flock for his virtue and purity of life. But this great admiration by the people aroused the envy of certain high officials, who plotted and succeeded in having the Blessed Metropolitan removed from office in 1890 – without a trial or any explanation whatsoever. He returned to Greece to become a monk and Preacher, to the great edification of the people. There the Blessed Metropolitan continued to write his now famous books.

In 1894, the divine Nektarios became Director of the Rizarios Ecclesiastical School, where he was to remain for 15 years. As an educator, the chief concern of the venerable Hierarch was to incite and guide youth to become good Christians. His fifteen years at Rizarios were also productive for the writing of many more books and teachings.

In 1904, our Saint founded a monastery for women in Aegina, the Holy Trinity Convent. Under his guidance the Convent flourished. In 1908, the Blessed Nektarios, at the age of 62, retired from the Rizarios Ecclesiastical School and withdrew to Holy Trinity Convent in Aegina. There, for the rest of his life as a true monk and ascetic. He served as a confessor and spiritual guide to the nuns and even priests from as far as Athens and Piraeus. His Holy and pious life shone forth like a guiding light to all near him. Many would come to him for healing. St Nektarios was a great ëWonder-workerí even while alive.

On September 20, 1920 one of the nuns took him to the local hospital, in spite of his protest. He was convulsing in pain from a long-standing ailment. He was admitted, and placed into a ward reserved for the poor and unwanted. There he stayed for two months among the sick and dying. At 10:30 in the evening of November 8th, although in the midst of terrible pains, in peace and at prayer he gave up his spirit unto God at the age of 74.

As soon as St Nektarios gave up his spirit, a nurse came to prepare him for transfer to Aegina for burial. As the nurse removed the Saints sweater, she inadvertently placed it on the next bed, on which a paralytic lay. O, strange wonder, the paralytic immediately began to regain his strength and arose from his bed healthy, and glorifying God.

Some time after his repose, strangely a beautiful fragrance was emitted by his Holy body, filling the room. Many came to venerate his Holy relics prior to his burial. With amazement, people noted a fragrant fluid that drenched his hair and beard. Even after 5 months, when the nuns of the convent opened the Saints grave to build a marble tomb, they found the Saint intact in every respect and emitted a wonderful and heavenly fragrance. Similarly three years later, the Holy Relics were still whole and radiating the same heavenly fragrance.

Many people had regarded Nektarios as a Saint whilst he was still alive, because of his purity of life, his virtues, the nature of his publications, his gift of foreknowledge and the miracles he performed. The recognition of him as a Saint spread rapidly after his repose. God confirmed the Sanctity of Nektarios at his repose and by the miracles attributed to the Saint after his repose. The Orthodox Church proclaimed him as a Saint on April 20, 1961.

Dismissal Hymn (Fourth Tone)

The offspring of Silyvria and the guardian of Aegina, the true friend of virtue who has appeared in the last years, O Nektarios, we faithful honour you as the godly servant of Christ, for you pour forth healings of every kind for those who piously cry out: Glory to Christ Who has glorified you. Glory to Him Who has made you wondrous. Glory to Him Who works healings for all through you.

Kontakion (Plagal of Fourth Tone)

To you, the Champion Leader

Come, let us give praise to Orthodoxy’s newly-shining star and the divine and newly builded bulwark of the Church; and in joyfulness of heart, let us sing his praises. By the working of the Spirit was he glorified, and pours out the abundant grace of wonderous cures upon them that cry: Rejoice, O Father Nektarios.

Martyrs Onesiphorus and Porphyrius of Ephesus

During the persecution of Diocletian and Maximian, about the year 290, Saints Onesiphorus and Porphyrius were betrayed as Christians to the persecutors. After many torments through which they stood fast in confessing their faith, they were bound by the feet to wild horses and dragged to death.

Apolytikion of Martyrs Onesiphorus & Porphyrius in the Fourth Tone

Thy Martyrs, O Lord, in their courageous contest for Thee received as the prize the crowns of incorruption and life from Thee, our immortal God. For since they possessed Thy strength, they cast down the tyrants and wholly destroyed the demons’ strengthless presumption. O Christ God, by their prayers, save our souls, since Thou art merciful.

Kontakion of Martyrs Onesiphorus & Porphyrius in the Second Tone

The martyric pair contested with great steadfastness and dashed to the earth the boasting of the enemy and were made to shine with the grace of the uncreated Trinity, and now with the angelic Hosts the glorious Martyrs pray to God for us.

Matrona, Abbess of Constantinople

Saint Matrona was from Perga in Pamphylia, and lived in the fifth century; she was wedded to a husband and bore him a daughter. After her husband’s death, she entrusted her daughter to a certain woman she knew, and then passed her life in asceticism in Constantinople, living almost one hundred years.

Holy Father Arsenios of Cappadocia

The Divine Apostle, recounting the achievements of the Saints, and setting forth their memorial as an example for us to turn away from earthly things and sin, and emulate their patience and courage in the struggles for virtue, says, “therefore we also are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every burden, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us” (Heb 12:1).

Guided by the teaching of the Holy Scriptures and Apostolic Tradition, we honour the Saints, who are friends of God who keep His commandments, are shining examples of virtue, and are benefactors of mankind. Of course, we honour the known Saints on their own day of the year. However, many Saints are unknown and their number increases with time, so the Church has appointed that once a year a common commemoration be made of all the Saints on All Saints Day. This is the harvest of the coming of the Holy Spirit into the world; it is the “much fruit” brought forth by that “Grain of wheat that fell into the earth and died” (John 12:24); it is the glorification of the Saints as “the foundation of the Church, the Gospel’s perfection, they who fulfilled in deed the sayings of the Saviour” (Sunday of All Saints, Doxasticon of Vespers).

Orestes the Martyr of Cappadocia

Saint Orestes was from Tyana of Cappadocia. During the persecution of Diocletian, this Martyr’s ankles were pierced with long nails; being bound to a wild horse and violently dragged by it, he gave up his spirit in the year 289.

Kontakion of Martyr Orestes in the Second Tone

Thine invincibility in contest, O Martyr, was accepted and rewarded by Christ, the Prize-bestower; and He hath granted thee the crown of life and the divine power to work healings, O Orestes, since He is the Friend of man.

Saint Menas of Egypt

Holy Great Martyr Menas of Egypt was a military officer and served in the Kotyaeion region of Phrygia under the centurion Firmilian during the reign of the emperors Diocletian (284-305 AD) and Maximian (305-311 AD). When the emperors began the fiercest persecution against Christians in history, the Saint refused to serve these persecutors. He removed his soldier’s belt (a sign of military rank) and withdrew to a mountain, where he lived an ascetic life of fasting and prayer.

Once he arrived in the city during a pagan festival. At the climax of the games, the Saint’s accusing voice rang out, preaching faith in Christ, the Saviour of the world. At his trial before the prefect Pyrrhus, the Saint bravely confessed his faith, saying that he had come to denounce the impious. The prefect was angered, and had St Menas arrested.

Pyrrhus offered to restore the Saint’s former rank if he would offer sacrifice to the pagan gods. When he refused, he cruelly tortured, and then beheaded. This occurred in the year 304 AD. Christians gathered up the martyr’s relics by night and hid them until the end of the persecution. Later, they were brought to Egypt and placed in a church dedicated to St Menas southwest of Alexandria.

The Saint received grace from God to work miracles, and to help those in need. St Menas is noted for healing various illnesses, delivering people from possession by demons, and as a protector, especially during times of war. We also ask his help in finding lost objects.

Plagal of the Fourth Tone

With great valour of soul, you strived in martyrdom and having fought the good fight, O divine Great Martyr Menas, you received the gift of miracles from heaven; for God has shown you to the world as a worker of great signs, and He made you our protector and a swift help in afflictions and ever-vigilant defence from harm.

Kontakion (Plagal of the Fourth Tone)

As godly-minded athletes and Martyrs who strove for piety, the Church honours and glorifies this day the godly contests and travails of Menas the prizewinner, noble Victor, brave Vincent, and valiant Stephanie, and lovingly cry out and glorify Christ, the Friend of man.

Victor and Stephanie

Saints Victor and Stephanie contested in Damascus in 160, during the reign of Antoninus Pius. The pagans arrested Saint Victor as a Christian and cut off his fingers, put out his eyes, and beheaded him. As Saint Stephanie, the wife of a certain soldier, and a Christian, saw Victor’s nobility in his sufferings, she loudly cried out to call him blessed and to say that she saw two crowns prepared, one for him, and one for herself. She also was taken, and was tied to two palm trees which had been bowed down; when they were released, she was torn asunder.

Holy Martyr Vincent

Saint Vincent is the most illustrious of the Martyrs of Spain. Because of his virtue, he was ordained deacon by Valerius, Bishop of Saragossa, who, because of his advanced age and an impediment in his speech, commissioned Vincent to be preacher of the Gospel. In 303, the impious Emperors Diocletian and Maximian sent Dacian to Spain as governor, with an edict to persecute the clergy. Saint Vincent was brought with Bishop Valerius to Valencia; the bishop was sent into exile, but the holy deacon was tortured on a rack, and after suffering other cruel torments, gave up his soul into the hands of God on January 22 in the year 304.

Apolytikion of Martyr Vincent in the Fourth Tone

With songs of praise, let us hymn the steadfast athletes of Christ: * divine Victor, Vincent, and the noble Stephanie, with Menas the all-glorious. * Having crushed the foe in sundry ages and countries, * they rejoice together, glorified in the Heavens. * Have mercy, O Christ Saviour, on all, by Thy Great Martyrs’ prayers.

Kontakion of Martyr Vincent in the Plagal of the Fourth Tone

As godly-minded athletes and Martyrs who stove for piety, * the Church doth honour and glorify on this day the godly contests and travails * of Menas the prizewinner, * noble Victor, brave Vincent, and valiant Stephanie, * and lovingly doth cry out and glorify Christ, the Friend of man.

Theodore the Studite

Saint Theodore the Studite was born in Constantinople in 759; his pious parents were named Photinus and Theoctiste. He assumed the monastic habit in his youth, at the monastery called Sakkoudion, and became abbot there in 794. About the year 784 he was ordained deacon, and later presbyter by the most holy Patriarch Tarasius. On joining the brotherhood of the Monastery of Studium (which was named after its founder Studius, a Roman consul), the Saint received the surname “Studite.” He proved to be a fervent zealot for the traditions of the Fathers and contested even unto death for the sake of his reverence for the holy icons. He endured three exiles because of his pious zeal. During the third one, to which he was condemned by the Iconoclast autocrat, Leo the Armenian, he endured courageously – being beaten and bound and led from one dark dungeon to another – for seven whole years. Finally he was recalled from exile by Michael the Stutterer. Receiving thus a small respite from his labours of long endurance, he reposed in the Lord on November 11, 826, a Sunday, while his disciples, who stood round about him, chanted the 118th Psalm. Some say that after receiving the immaculate Mysteries, he himself began chanting this psalm. And on reaching the verse, ‘ I will never forget Thy statutes, for in them hast Thou quickened me” (Ps. 118:93), he gave up his spirit, having lived for sixty-seven years. In addition to his other sacred writings, he composed, with the collaboration of his brother Joseph, almost the whole of the compunctionate book of the Triodion (see also July 14).

Apolytikion of Theodore the Studite in the Plagal of the Fourth Tone

You are a guide of Orthodoxy, a teacher of piety and modesty, a luminary of the world, the God inspired pride of monastics. O wise Theodore, you have enlightened everyone by your teachings. You are the harp of the Spirit. Intercede to Christ our God for the salvation of our souls.

Kontakion of Theodore the Studite in the Second Tone

Ascetic in truth and equal to the Angel’s life, thy life was made bright with contests and martyric trials; and the holy Angels’ companion was thou, Theodore, blest of God; now together with them, O Saint, thou ceaselessly prayest Christ in our behalf.

The Divine Apostle, recounting the achievements of the Saints, and setting forth their memorial as an example for us to turn away from earthly things and sin, and emulate their patience and courage in the struggles for virtue, says, “therefore we also are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every burden, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us” (Heb 12:1).

Guided by the teaching of the Holy Scriptures and Apostolic Tradition, we honour the Saints, who are friends of God who keep His commandments, are shining examples of virtue, and are benefactors of mankind. Of course, we honour the known Saints on their own day of the year. However, many Saints are unknown and their number increases with time, so the Church has appointed that once a year a common commemoration be made of all the Saints on All Saints Day. This is the harvest of the coming of the Holy Spirit into the world; it is the “much fruit” brought forth by that “Grain of wheat that fell into the earth and died” (John 12:24); it is the glorification of the Saints as “the foundation of the Church, the Gospel’s perfection, they who fulfilled in deed the sayings of the Saviour” (Sunday of All Saints, Doxasticon of Vespers).

Angelic powers were above Thy tomb, and they that guarded Thee became as dead. And Mary stood by the grave seeking Thine immaculate Body. Thou hast despoiled Hades and wast not tried thereby. Thou didst meet the Virgin and didst grant us life. O Thou Who didst arise from the dead, Lord, glory be to Thee.

Seasonal Kontakion in the Fourth Tone

Today, the most pure temple of the Savior, the precious bridal chamber and Virgin, the sacred treasure of God, enters the house of the Lord, bringing the grace of the Divine Spirit. The Angels of God praise her. She is the heavenly tabernacle.

John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople

St John (407 AD), who since the sixth century has been called Chrysostom or golden mouthed, was born in Antioch of a noble Christian family between 344 and 354 AD. He was brought up by his widowed mother and received the best education which Antioch could offer. He studied philosophy under Andragathius, rhetoric under the celebrated Libanius, and theology under Diodore of Tarsus. He became a monk by 375 and lived in a mountain community not far from Antioch. He nearly ruined his health through austerities and the damp conditions of his cave hermitage. He returned to Antioch in 381, was ordained deacon by Bishop Meletius, and served the local church until his ordination as priest in 386 by Bishop Flavian, the successor of Meletius. He then became the bishop’s special assistant, particularly for the temporal care and spiritual instruction of the numerous Christian poor of the city.

St John soon distinguished himself a preacher and commentator on the Epistles of St Paul and the Gospels of Matthew and John (386-397). He insisted in the Antiochene tradition on the literal meaning of Holy Scripture and its practical application to the problems of the time. Hence much of his work has relevance today also.

In 397 AD, after the death of Archbishop Nectarius of Constantinople, Emperor Arcadius wished St John to be chosen in his place. An envoy was sent to secretly detach John from Antioch, for fear of popular opposition. Theophilus, Archbishop of Alexandria consecrated him on February 398. John was the somewhat unwilling recipient of episcopal consecration at the hands of the at least equally unwilling Theophilus.

As Metropolitan of Constantinople, John immediately set about a much needed reform of the court, clergy and laity. He reduced the customary spending of his own household in favour of the poor and hospitals. He enacted severe discipline for the clergy and attacked the behaviour, the clothes, and the make-up of the women at court. He also criticised those Christians who had been to the races on Good Friday and to the games in the stadium on Holy Saturday.

In 401 AD, at a synod in Ephesius, he deposed six bishops, with the result that all forces opposed to him, at home and abroad, consolidated in a united effort to destroy him. The Empress Eudoxia regarded his drive for moral reform as a personal attack on herself. Meanwhile Theophilus made common cause with the empress and organised a cabal of 36 bishops, which assembled at Chalcedon in 403, as the Synod of the Oak.

The synod condemned St John unheard. He was charged on a series of more or less false charges, was also accused of treason for calling Eudoxia ‘Jezebel’, was dropped from his see, and asked for his banishment. Arcadius exiled John to Bithynia, but an earthquake in Constantinople terrified him and he recalled John the next day. John resumed his plain speaking, which again enraged Eudoxia; Theophilus intrigued against him with appeals to an Arian council of Antioch, and John was again banished, this time for resuming the duties of a see from which he had been ‘lawfully deposed’. This took place on June 9, 404 AD; although his own people and many bishops supported him, he was exiled, first to Curusus in Armenia, where he remained three years, and then to Pontus, where he was killed by enforced travel in bad weather, on foot and in spite of repeated pleas of exhaustion. He died on September 14, 407 AD. Thirty-one years later his body was taken back to Constantinople and reburied in the church of the Apostles.

Philip the Apostle

The Holy and All-praised Apostle Philip, was a native of the city of Bethsaida in Galilee. He had a profound depth of knowledge of Holy Scripture, and rightly discerning the meaning of the Old Testament prophecies, he awaited the coming of the Messiah. Through the call of the Saviour (John 1:43), Philip followed Him. The Apostle Philip is spoken about several times in the New Testament. It was he that brought Apostle Nathaniel (i.e. Bartholomew) to Christ (See John 1:46), Christ asks him where to buy bread for five thousand men (John 6: 5-7), he brought certain of the Hellenized Jews wanting to see Jesus (John 12:21-22), and at the Last Supper he asked Christ to show them the Father (John 14:8).

After Christ’s Ascension, St Philip preached the Word of God in Galilee, accompanying his preaching with miracles. Thus, he restored to life a dead infant in the arms of its mother. From Galilee, he went to Greece, and preached among the Jews that had settled there. Some of them reported the preaching of the Apostle to Jerusalem. In response, some scribes arrived in Greece from Jerusalem, with one of the Jewish chief priests at their head, to interrogate the Apostle Philip.

The Apostle Philip exposed the lie of the chief priest, who said that the disciples of Christ had stolen away and hidden the body of Christ. Philip told instead how the Pharisees had bribed the soldiers on watch, to spread this rumour. When the Jewish chief priest and his companions began to insult the Lord and lunged at the Apostle Philip, they suddenly were struck blind. By his prayer, the Apostle restored everyone’s sight. Seeing this miracle, many believed in Christ. The Apostle Philip provided a bishop for them, by the name of Narcissus (one of the Seventy Apostles, commemorated January 4).

From Greece the Apostle Philip went to Parthia, and then to the city of Azotus, where he healed an eye affliction of the daughter of a local resident named Nikoklides, who had received him into his home, and then baptized his whole family.

Apostle Philip set out from Azotus to Syrian Hieropolis (there were several cities of this name) where, stirred up by the Pharisees, the Jews burned the house of Heros, who had taken in the Apostle Philip, and they wanted to kill the apostle. The apostle performed several miracles: the healing of the hand of the city official Aristarchus, withered when he attempted to strike the apostle; and restoring a dead child to life. When they saw these marvels, they repented and many accepted holy Baptism. After making Heros the bishop at Hieropolis, the Apostle Philip went on to Syria, Asia Minor, Lydia, Emessa, and everywhere preaching the Gospel and undergoing sufferings. Both he and his sister Mariamne (commemorated February 17) were pelted with stones, locked up in prison, and thrown out of villages.

Then the Apostle Philip arrived in the city of Phrygian Hieropolis, where there were many pagan temples. There was also a pagan temple where people worshiped an enormous serpent as a god. The Apostle Philip by the power of prayer killed the serpent and healed many bitten by snakes.

Among those healed was the wife of the city governor, Amphipatos. Having learned that his wife had accepted Christianity, the governor Amphipatos gave orders to arrest St. Philip, his sister, and the Apostle Bartholomew travelling with them. At the urging of the pagan priests of the temple of the serpent, Amphipatos ordered the holy Apostles Philip and Bartholomew to be crucified. Suddenly, an earthquake struck, and it knocked down all those present at the place of judgement. Hanging upon the cross by the pagan temple of the serpent, the Apostle Philip prayed for those who had crucified him, asking God to save them from the ravages of the earthquake. Seeing this happen, the people believed in Christ and began to demand that the apostles be taken down from the crosses. The Apostle Bartholomew was still alive when he was taken down, and he baptized all those believing and established a bishop for them. But the Apostle Philip, through whose prayers everyone remained alive, except for Amphipatos and the pagan priests, died on the cross.

Mariamne his sister buried his body, and went with the Apostle Bartholomew to preach in Armenia, where the Apostle Bartholomew was crucified commemorated June 11); Mariamne herself then preached until her own death at Lykaonia.

The holy Apostle Philip is not to be confused with St Philip the Deacon (commemorated October 11), one of the Seventy.

Dismissal Hymn (Third Tone)

O Holy Apostle Philip, intercede with the merciful God that He grant to our souls forgiveness of offences.

Kontakion (Plagal of the Fourth Tone)

Your disciple and friend, emulator of Your passion, the divinely eloquent Philip, proclaimed You to the world as God. By his entreaties, and through the Theotokos, keep Your Church from lawless enemies, O most merciful.

Gregory Palamas, Archbishop of Thessaloniki

This divine Father, who was from Asia Minor, was from childhood reared in the royal court of Constantinople, where he was instructed in both religious and secular wisdom. Later, while still a youth, he left the imperial court and struggled in asceticism on Mount Athos, and in the Skete at Beroea. He spent some time in Thessalonica being treated for an illness that came from his harsh manner of life. He was present in Constantinople at the Council that was convened in 1341 against Barlaam of Calabria, and at the Council of 1347 against Acindynus, who was of like mind with Barlaam; Barlaam and Acindynus claimed that the grace of God is created. At both these Councils, the Saint contended courageously for the true dogmas of the Church of Christ, teaching in particular that divine grace is not created, but is the uncreated energies of God which are poured forth throughout creation: otherwise it would be impossible, if grace were created, for man to have genuine communion with the uncreated God. In 1347 he was appointed Metropolitan of Thessalonica. He tended his flock in an apostolic manner for some twelve years, and wrote many books and treatises on the most exalted doctrines of our Faith; and having lived for a total of sixty-three years, he reposed in the Lord in 1359.His holy relics are kept in the Cathedral of Thessalonica.

Apolytikion of Gregory Palamas, Abp. Of Thessolonica in the Plagal of the Fourth Tone

You are a guide of Orthodoxy, a teacher of piety and modesty, a luminary of the world, the God inspired pride of monastics. O wise Gregory, you have enlightened everyone by your teachings. You are the harp of the Spirit. Intercede to Christ our God for the salvation of our souls.

Kontakion of Gregory Palamas, Abp. Of Thessolonica in the Plagal of the Fourth Tone

With one accord, we praise thee as the sacred and divine * vessel of wisdom and clear trumpet of theology, * O our righteous Father Gregory of divine speech. * As a mind that standeth now before the Primal Mind, * do thou ever guide aright and lead our mind to Him, * that we may cry: * Rejoice, O herald of grace divine.

Holy Great New Martyr Constantine of Hydra

Constantine was born on the island of Hydra in the 18th century. Born to a pious Orthodox Christian family, he left the island to the city of Rhodes in order to find work. There he worked for the Turkish governer and converted to Islam. He soon repented and returned to his Christian faith and lived on Mt Athos for a period of time as a monastic. &nbsp;He returned to Rhodes to confront the governor and confess his Christian faith. He died the death of a martyr by being beheaded on November 14, 1800.

Apolytikion of New Martyr Constantine in the Plagal of the First Tone

Constantine of Hydra, the most-precious shield, the boast of Neomartyrs, who struggled on Rhodes, in hymns and spiritual odes, let us providently honor him O brethren, who suffered for Christ, and received death by hanging. Therefore he rules together with Christ, and he grants abundant healing greater in number than the sand to all who flee to him.

Gurias, Samonas, and Avivos, Martyrs and Confessors of Edessa

During the persecution against Christians under the emperors Diocletian (284-305 AD) and Maximian (305-311 AD), two friends were arrested in the city of Edessa: the Christians Gurias and Samonas, preachers of the Word of God. The Saints refused to offer sacrifice to the gods, and boldly confessed their faith in Christ. For this, they were beaten, hung up by their hands, heavy weights were tied to their feet, and they were cast into a stifling prison. The martyrs endured everything with firmness and Samonas uttered a prayer to the Lord, which one of the witnesses to their death wrote down, “O Lord my God, against Whose will not a single sparrow falls into the snare. It was You Who made room for David in his sorrow [Palm 4:1], Who proved the Prophet David stronger than lions [Dan 6], and granted a child of Abraham to be victor over torture and flames [Dan 3 and 14].

You know also, Lord, the infirmity of our nature, You see the struggle set before us. Our foe strives to snatch us, the work of Your right hand, away from You and to deprive us of the glory which is in You. With Your compassionate eye watching over us, preserve in us the inextinguishable light of Your Commandments. Guide our steps by Your light, and make us worthy of Your Kingdom, for You are blessed unto ages of ages”. By night, they took the martyrs out beyond the city and beheaded them (+ 299-306 AD), and Christians buried their holy bodies with reverence.

After some years, the last pagan emperor, Licinius (311-324 AD), began a persecution against Christians. Avivos (Habibus), a Deacon of the Church of Edessa whom the emperor ordered to be arrested for his zealous spreading of the true Christian faith, presented himself before the executioners when he learned they were searching for him. The Saint confessed his faith in Christ and was sentenced to be burned alive. The martyr went willingly into the fire and with a prayer surrendered his soul to the Lord. When the fire went out, the mother and relatives of the saint found his body unharmed. They buried the martyr next to Sts Gurias and Samonas.

After the death of the Saints, they worked numerous miracles for those who entreated their help with faith and love. Once, a certain Gothic soldier, sent to serve at Edessa, took the pious virgin Euthymia as his wife. Before this the barbarian vowed to her mother Sophia at the graves of the Martyrs Gurias, Samonas and Avivos that he would do his spouse no harm, and would never insult her, but would always love and cherish her.

At the completion of his service in Edessa, he took Euthymia with him back to his native land. It turned out that he had deceived her, for he already had a wife at home, and Euthymia became her slave. Her evil husband threatened to kill her if she revealed to anyone that they were married. Euthymia suffered much abuse and humiliation. When she gave birth to a son, the jealous Gothic woman poisoned him. Euthymia turned with prayer to the holy Martyrs Gurias, Samonas and Avivos, the witnesses to the perjurer’s oath, and the Lord delivered Euthymia from her suffering and miraculously returned her to Edessa, where she was welcomed by her mother. After a while, the Goth was again sent to serve in Edessa. The whole city learned of his misdeeds after Sophia denounced him. The Goth was executed by order of the governor of the city.

Dismissal Hymn (Plagal of the Fourth Tone)

Since You have given us the miracles of Your holy Martyrs as an invincible battlement, by their entreaties, scatter the counsels of the heathen, O Christ our God, and strengthen the faith of Orthodox Christians, since You alone are good and the Friend of man.

Kontakion (Second Tone)

You received a special grace from on high, becoming the protectors of those threatened with danger; O wise Gurias, and Samonas, you are worthy of all praise, saving a handmaid of God from cruel death, O holy ones. Indeed you are the glory of Edessa, and the joy of the Universe.

St Matthew (meaning “gift of God”) was identified as a tax collector (Matthew 9:9; 10:3) and was of Jewish race. In the other accounts of his meeting with Jesus (Mark 2:13, 14; Luke 5:27-29), he is called Levi. This use of two different names has led some scholars to argue for two different persons, due to the absence of Levi from the apostolic lists. Others, however, have argued that Matthew had a double name, because the Jews frequently carried two names – such as Simon/Peter and Saul/Paul. When he was called by Jesus (Matthew 9:9), Matthew renounced the position of tax collector and became His disciple. According to Christian tradition, after Pentecost Matthew, filled with the Holy Spirit, preached the gospel in many places, especially to the Jews.

The Gospel of Matthew, though it has come down to us in Greek, has a Jewish/Hebraic flavour, which is evident in its Aramaic expressions and forms, and its use of numerous quotations and arguments from the Old Testament. Furthermore, Matthew gives details of Jewish religious observations, and often uses Jewish style and techniques of argument. God’s final judgement, pictured in apocalyptic images common in Jewish writings, is also emphasized. Papias, a second-century Christian author, preserves the tradition that Matthew wrote the sayings of Christ in Aramaic, the common language of the Jews at the time of Christ, and that others later freely translated this work into Greek.

Though the Gospel does not name Matthew as the author, all the early manuscripts attribute authorship to Matthew, one of the twelve disciples listed in the New Testament. His authorship is attested by the universal witness of the ancient Church.Matthew’s usual emblem as an evangelist is a man, because his genealogy emphasized the family ties of Christ.

Dismissal Hymn (Third Tone)

O Holy Apostle and Evangelist Matthew, intercede to our merciful God, that He may grant our souls forgiveness of sins.

Kontakion (Fourth Tone)

When you cast away the publican’s balance and was united to the yoke of uprightness, you prove a merchant of great excellence, one that gathered in the wealth of the wisdom of Heaven; for this cause, the word of truth you did herald, O Matthew, and you aroused the souls of sluggish men by signifying the dread day of reckoning.

Gregory the Wonderworker & Bishop of Neo-Caesarea

The Divine Apostle, recounting the achievements of the Saints, and setting forth their memorial as an example for us to turn away from earthly things and sin, and emulate their patience and courage in the struggles for virtue, says, “therefore we also are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every burden, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us” (Heb 12:1).

Guided by the teaching of the Holy Scriptures and Apostolic Tradition, we honour the Saints, who are friends of God who keep His commandments, are shining examples of virtue, and are benefactors of mankind. Of course, we honour the known Saints on their own day of the year. However, many Saints are unknown and their number increases with time, so the Church has appointed that once a year a common commemoration be made of all the Saints on All Saints Day. This is the harvest of the coming of the Holy Spirit into the world; it is the “much fruit” brought forth by that “Grain of wheat that fell into the earth and died” (John 12:24); it is the glorification of the Saints as “the foundation of the Church, the Gospel’s perfection, they who fulfilled in deed the sayings of the Saviour” (Sunday of All Saints, Doxasticon of Vespers).

Holy Martyr Romanos

St Romanos lived during the reign of Maximian in Antioch. He presented himself before Asclepiades the Eparch, and rebuked him, saying, “The idols are not gods; even a little child could tell you that”. Then the Saint asked that a child be brought in from the market, that he might be the judge of the matter at hand. Therefore, when the child was asked, “Which God must we worship?” he replied, “Christ”. The child was beaten mercilessly and beheaded at the command of the tyrant. As for St Romanos, his tongue was cut out, and then he was cast into prison, where he was strangled in the year 305 AD.

Kontakion (Fourth Tone)

O all-lauded Romanus, since the Church has you as a bright, majestic star, She is now guided by the light of your great contests, and She praises and glorifies your all-luminous memory.

Plato the Great Martyr of Ancyra

Saint Plato contested in martyrdom in 266, when Agrippinus was proconsul. He was from the city of Ancyra in the province of Galatia.

Apolytikion of Great Martyr Plato in the Fourth Tone

Thy Martyrs, O Lord, in their courageous contest for Thee received as the prize the crowns of incorruption and life from Thee, our immortal God. For since they possessed Thy strength, they cast down the tyrants and wholly destroyed the demons’ strengthless presumption. O Christ God, by their prayers, save our souls, since Thou art merciful.

Kontakion of Great Martyr Plato in the Third Tone

Thine all-holy memory doth cheer and gladden the whole world, calling all to come to thine august and ven’rable temple; wherein now, with jubilation we have all gathered, and with odes we hymn thy triumphs, O Martyr Plato, and with faith, we cry out to thee: Rescue thy people, O Saint, from barbarous foes.

We Also Celebrate Today:

Zaccheus the DeaconHoly New Martyr Anastasius of ParamythiaMartyr Romanos the DeaconAnastasios the New Martyr

Holy Prophet Obadiah is the fourth of the Twelve Minor Prophets, and he lived during the ninth century BC. He was from the village of Betharam, near Sichem, and he served as steward of the impious Israelite King Ahab. In those days, the whole of Israel had turned away from the true God and had begun to offer sacrifice to Baal, but Obadiah faithfully served the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in secret.

When Ahab’s wife, the impious and dissolute Jezebel, hunted down all the prophets of the Lord (because of her quarrel with the Prophet Elias), Obadiah gave them shelter and food (3 Kings 18:3-4). Ahab’s successor King Okhoziah (Ahaziah) sent three detachments of soldiers to arrest the holy Prophet Elias (commemorated July 20). Obadiah headed one of these detachments, and through the prayer of Prophet Elias, two of the detachments were consumed by heavenly fire, but the Lord spared Obadiah and his detachment. From that moment, Obadiah resigned from military service and became a follower of the Prophet Elias. Afterwards, he himself received the gift of prophecy. The God-inspired work of Obadiah is the fourth of the Books of the Twelve Minor Prophets in the Bible, and contains predictions about the New Testament Church. The holy Prophet Obadiah was buried in Samaria.

Dismissal Hymn (Second Tone)

As we celebrate the memory of Your Prophet Obadiach, O Lord, through him we beseech You to save our souls.

Kontakion (Plagal of the Fourth Tone)

As a divinely-chosen Prophet, you foretold things far off, that on Mount Sion salvation should come to pass, for Heaven’s mysteries shone on you; as you dwell in Heaven with the Prophets, rejoicing in Christ whom you foretold, entreat Him, O Obadiach, to save us, who honour you with love.

Thou didst abolish death by Thy Cross; Thou didst open Paradise to the thief; Thou didst transform the myrrh-bearers’ lamentation, and didst bid Thine Apostles to preach that Thou art risen, O Christ God, granting great mercy to the world.

Seasonal Kontakion in the Fourth Tone

Today, the most pure temple of the Savior, the precious bridal chamber and Virgin, the sacred treasure of God, enters the house of the Lord, bringing the grace of the Divine Spirit. The Angels of God praise her. She is the heavenly tabernacle.

The Forefeast of the Presentation of the Theotokos into the Temple

Apolytikion of Forefeast of the Entry of the Theotokos in the Fourth Tone

By blossoming forth the only Ever-virgin as fruit, today holy Anna doth betroth us all unto joy, instead of our former grief; on this day she doth fulfil her vows to the Most High, leading her with joy into the Lord’s holy temple, who truly is the temple and pure Mother of God the Word.

Kontakion of Forefeast of the Entry of the Theotokos in the Fourth Tone

The whole world is filled today with joy and gladness on the Theotokos’s auspicious and resplendent feast, whereon with great voice it crieth out: The heavenly tabernacle is she in truth.

Gregory the Righteous of Decapolis

Saint Gregory the Decapolite was born in the city of Isaurian Decapolis (ten cities) in the eighth century. From his childhood, he loved the temple of God and church services. He read the Holy Scripture constantly and with reverence. In order to avoid the marriage which his parents had intended for him, he secretly left home. He spent all his life wandering in Constantinople, Rome, Corinth, and he pursued asceticism for a certain while on Olympos. Saint Gregory preached the Word of God everywhere, denouncing the Iconoclast heresy, strengthening the faith and fortitude of the Orthodox, whom the heretics in those times oppressed, tortured and imprisoned.

Through his ascetic effort and prayer, God gifted Saint Gregory with prophecy and wonderworking. Having attained purity of heart, he was granted to hear angelic singing in praise of the Holy Trinity. To better contend against the Iconoclast heresy, Saint Gregory left the monastery of Saint Menas where he had laboured for a long while, and he went again to Constantinople. At the capital, a grievous illness undermined his strength, and he departed to the Lord in 816 AD.

Dismissal Hymn(Fourth Tone)

O God of our Fathers do not take away Your mercy from us, but ever act towards us according to Your kindness and by the prayers of Your Saints guide our lives in peace.

Kontakion (Third Tone)

The Church knows you to be a shining sun that enlightens all people with the rays of cures and with the beauty of virtue. Hence, O truly blessed Father, Christ’s faithful servant, we all celebrate your venerable memorial, O wise Gregory most righteous; and we now honour your valiant struggles for Christ.

Proclus, Archbishop of Constantinople

Saint Proclus lived during the reign of Saint Theodosius the Younger. A disciple and scribe of Saint John Chrysostom, he was ordained Bishop of Cyzicus about the year 426, but because the people there unlawfully elected another bishop before his arrival, he remained in Constantinople. In 429, Nestorius, who had been Archbishop of Constantinople for about a year, and had already begun his blasphemous teaching that it is wrong to call the holy Virgin “Theotokos,” invited Bishop Proclus to give a sermon on one of the feasts of our Lady, which he did, openly defending in Nestorius’ presence the name “Theotokos,” that is, “Mother of God.” Saint Proclus was elevated to the throne of Archbishop of Constantinople in 434. It was he who persuaded Emperor Theodosius the Younger and his holy sister Pulcheria to have the most sacred relics of his godly teacher Saint John Chrysostom brought back from Comana, and triumphantly received them upon their return to the imperial city (see Jan. 27 and Nov. 13). He reposed in peace in 447.

Apolytikion of Proclus, Abp. Of Constantinople in the Fourth Tone

O God of our Fathers, ever dealing with us according to Thy gentleness: take not Thy mercy from us, but by their entreaties guide our life in peace.

Kontakion of Proclus, Abp. Of Constantinople in the Fourth Tone

On this day, thy ven’rable departure from us, O wise Proclus blest of God, is celebrated fittingly with joy by her that in very truth is the most honoured of cities in all the world.

It stands to reason that Almighty God’s selection of the Virgin Mary to be the Mother of God was not a random selection. In his wisdom, God selected not from the nobility but from the humble, thoroughly devout, daughter of equally devout parents whose names were Joachim and Anna. Tradition has it that Anna, childless for many years, reached a point in her life when just short of despair she prayed in earnest that God grant her a child with a promise that should her wish be fulfilled she would pledge the child to his holy Temple. It did not matter to Anna that the child granted her by God was a girl and, faithful to her word, she presented her daughter, given the name of Mary, to the holy Temple at the age of three, on the 21st of November. She remained in the house of God for twelve years, emerging at the age of fifteen with a purity and wholesomeness found in no other creature of God.

By the time she had been released to her parents, the saintly Mary was not only a flawless maiden but in her twelve years had acquired the lore and religion of the deepest scholars, something usually denied a female child of those days. So much has been written of the Lord’s mother that the concern here is for a glimpse into her life as a human being. The Virgin Mary is looked upon by Orthodoxy as “Panagia”, which translates into the all-encompassing saint. Greek Orthodox Christians need but one name and that name is “Panagia”, carrying the full impact on the Christian faith as no other name can regardless of the language. The beginnings of Christianity were not the scattered remnants that somehow merged into a smattering, of ideologies. By divine intent the great religion of Christ stemmed from a tight circle which spread itself out as the greatest of human experiences.

To begin with, the high priest entrusted with the care of Mary was Zacharias, who in turn was the father of St John the Baptist, referred to as the prefiguration of the Messiah and the man who was to baptise Jesus Christ. Yet in her teens the Virgin Mary, in a story that cannot be told often enough, was visited by the Archangel Gabriel, sent by the Almighty himself to be told that she, a wisp of a girl, mortal but blessed, was to become the mother of the Son of God.

There is every reason to believe that as electrifying as the news was, she received it with both joy and complete serenity. A girl can get excited by being elected “Queen of May”, but to be “Queen of the Universe” must have been an anticipation not of excitement but the sublimest of joy, human or otherwise. It follows that both Joachim and Anna, as the grandparents so to speak, of the Son of God, are also venerated as saints of the Church, so much so that they are also known as the “Patron Saints of Pious Education”, principally because of the twelve year course of study of religion of their daughter Mary. The Christian can make his own choice of his favourite among the four days of the year which are feast days of the Virgin Mary.

These are the Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary on September 8, the Presentation of the Virgin Mary on November 21, the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary on March 25, and the Dormition of the Virgin Mary on August 15. On the calendar of the Church, all four of these days are of equal importance. The world sees the Virgin Mary much as Michelangelo did when he carved out his famous Ficta in which a youthful looking Mary is holding the lifeless body of her crucified Son. Nowhere is she seen as an old woman, at least not at the age of a woman who is the mother of a thirty-three year old son. Among the Holy Land’s most sacred shrines is the one at the base of the Garden of Gethsemane, the site of the agony of Christ.

This shrine is dedicated to the Virgin Mary and her parents. After a descent down a cement stairway of about fifty steps, the tomb of Joachim is on the left and on the right of the tomb of his wife Anna. Some fifty steps below this is the empty tomb of the Virgin Mary since, like the Son of God, she ascended into heaven. Stories abound about the Virgin Mary but the truthful one that clings and shall do so forever is that in being the mother of the Son of God, she is the mother of the world. For this reason November 21 is one of Christianity’s holiest feast days.

Dismissal Hymn (Fourth Tone)

Today is the prelude of God’s pleasure and the proclamation of man’s salvation. The Virgin is clearly made manifest in the temple of God and foretells Christ to all. Let us also cry out to her with mighty voice, “Hail, fulfilment of the Creator’s dispensation”.

Kontakion (Fourth Tone)

Today, the most pure temple of the Saviour, the precious bridal chamber and Virgin, the sacred treasure of God, enters the house of the Lord, bringing the grace of the Divine Spirit. The Angels of God praise her. She is the heavenly tabernacle.

Archippus the Apostle, Philemon the Apostle & his wife, Apphia, Onesimos the Disciple of Paul

St Philemon and his wife St Apphia were Holy Apostles of the Seventy who lived in the city of Colossa in Phrygia. After they were baptized by the Apostle Paul, they converted their house into a house of prayer, where all those who believed in Christ gathered and attended services. They devoted themselves to serving the sick and downcast.

St Philemon became Bishop of the city of Gaza, and he preached the Word of God throughout Phrygia. Apostle Paul continued to be his guide, and addressed to him his Epistle filled with love, and in which he sends blessings, “to Philemon our dearly beloved, and fellow labourer, and to our beloved Apphia, and to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house” (Phil 1:1-3). St Onesimus (commemorated February 15), also mentioned in the Epistle, was St Philemon’s former slave.

Sts Philemon, Apphia, and St Archippos (who also lived at Colossa) received the crown of martyrdom during the persecution of Nero (54-68 AD). During a pagan festival, an enraged crowd rushed into the Christian church when services were going on. All fled in terror, and only Sts Philemon, Archippos, and Apphia remained. The pagans seized them and led them off to the city governor. They beat, and stabbed St Archippuos with knives, and he died on the way to the court. Sts Philemon and Apphia were stoned to death by order of the governor. The memory of the holy Apostles Archippos, Philemon, and Apphia is also celebrated on February 19.

We praise Christ’s Apostles as bright stars illumining the ends of the world, glorious Philemon, Onesimus, Archippos, and with them, wise Apphia, crying, “Pray unceasingly in behalf of us all”.

Holy Martyr Cecilia and those with her

Saint Cecilia was of an illustrious Roman family. On being betrothed to Valerian, she drew him to the Faith of Christ, and he in turn drew his own brother Tiburtius to the same. They contested in martyrdom during the reign of Diocletian, in the year 288.

Apolytikion of Martyrs Cecilia and Companions in the Fourth Tone

Thy Martyrs, O Lord, in their courageous contest for Thee received as the prize the crowns of incorruption and life from Thee, our immortal God. For since they possessed Thy strength, they cast down the tyrants and wholly destroyed the demons’ strengthless presumption. O Christ God, by their prayers, save our souls, since Thou art merciful.

Kontakion of Martyrs Cecilia and Companions in the Fourth Tone

In godly wise let us, the hosts of the faithful, sing hymns to her wedded to Christ of her own will, Cecilia, whose pure heart with virtues was adorned; for she wholly put to shame the conceit of Almacius, and she shone bright as the sun amidst them that pursued her and then appeared to those upon the earth as a divine staff that strengthened the holy Faith.

Afterfeast of the Entry of the Theotokos into the Temple

Apolytikion of Afterfeast of the Entry of the Theotokos in the Fourth Tone

Today is the prelude of God’s pleasure and the proclamation of man’s salvation. The Virgin is clearly made manifest in the temple of God and foretells Christ to all. Let us also cry out to her with mighty voice, “Hail, fulfillment of the Creator’s dispensation.”

We also celebrate today:

Kallistos Xanthopoulos, Patriarch of ConstantinopleAnthimos, President of Crete

Amphilochios, Bishop of Iconium

The Divine Apostle, recounting the achievements of the Saints, and setting forth their memorial as an example for us to turn away from earthly things and sin, and emulate their patience and courage in the struggles for virtue, says, “therefore we also are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every burden, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us” (Heb 12:1).

Guided by the teaching of the Holy Scriptures and Apostolic Tradition, we honour the Saints, who are friends of God who keep His commandments, are shining examples of virtue, and are benefactors of mankind. Of course, we honour the known Saints on their own day of the year. However, many Saints are unknown and their number increases with time, so the Church has appointed that once a year a common commemoration be made of all the Saints on All Saints Day. This is the harvest of the coming of the Holy Spirit into the world; it is the “much fruit” brought forth by that “Grain of wheat that fell into the earth and died” (John 12:24); it is the glorification of the Saints as “the foundation of the Church, the Gospel’s perfection, they who fulfilled in deed the sayings of the Saviour” (Sunday of All Saints, Doxasticon of Vespers).

Gregory, Bishop of Agrigentum

Saint Gregory, the son of pious parents named Chariton and Theodora, was born in Agrigentum, a city of Sicily, and was great in virtue from his childhood. He was baptized, brought up, and tonsured reader by Bishop Potamion during the reign of Justinian II, in the seventh century. At the age of eighteen he made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, where he was ordained deacon by Macarius, Bishop of Jerusalem. He traveled to Constantinople, and then to Rome where he was consecrated Bishop of his native Agrigentum. As Bishop of Agrigentum he worked many miracles and shone brilliantly in virtue, but also suffered many great temptation; from the priests Sabine and Crescentius, who so envied him that they slandered him to the Pope as a fornicator and had him cast into prison for two and a half years. In the end, however, he vindicated himself by casting the demon out of the woman who had falsely accused him of committing sin with her. Saint Gregory reposed in peace in deep old age.

Apolytikion of Gregory, Bp. of Agrigentum in the First Tone

O God of our Fathers, ever dealing with us according to Thy gentleness: take not Thy mercy from us, but by their entreaties guide our life in peace.

Kontakion of Gregory, Bp. of Agrigentum in the Fourth Tone

With the Holy Spirit’s rays, which shine a great light, doth the Church illuminate the way of them that celebrate thy joyous falling asleep today, O righteous Father, supremely blest Gregory.

Afterfeast of the Entry of the Theotokos into the Temple

Apolytikion of Afterfeast of the Entry of the Theotokos in the Fourth Tone

Today is the prelude of God’s pleasure and the proclamation of man’s salvation. The Virgin is clearly made manifest in the temple of God and foretells Christ to all. Let us also cry out to her with mighty voice, “Hail, fulfillment of the Creator’s dispensation.”

Our Holy Father Clement, Pope of Rome

Hieromartyr Clement, Pope of Rome, was born at Rome into a rich and illustrious family. Separated from his parents from childhood, Clement was raised by strangers. Living in Rome, the youth received a fine education; he was surrounded by luxury, and had access to the imperial court.

However, these comforts brought him no joy, pagan wisdom failed to attract him, and he began to ponder the meaning of life. When the news of Christ and His teaching began to reach the capital, St Clement left his home and estate and went to the lands where the Apostles were preaching. At Alexandria, St Clement met Apostle Barnabas, and while listening to his words with deep attention he perceived the power and truth of the Word of God. Arriving in Palestine, St Clement was Baptized by Apostle Peter and became his zealous disciple and constant companion, sharing his toil and sufferings with him. Shortly before his own sufferings and death, St Peter ordained St Clement as Bishop of Rome. After the death of Apostle Peter, St Linus (67-79 AD) was the next Bishop of Rome, succeeded by St Anacletus (79-91 AD), and then St Clement (92-101 AD).

The virtuous life, charitable works and prayerful activity of St Clement converted many from various classes to Christ. He once baptized 424 people on the day of Pascha. The pagans, seeing the success of his Apostolic preaching, denounced St Clement to emperor Trajan (98-117 AD), accusing the Saint of insulting pagan gods. The emperor banished St Clement from the capital, sending him to the Crimea, to work at a stone quarry near the city of Cherson. Many of the Saint’s disciples followed him, preferring to go into exile rather than live without their spiritual Father. When he arrived at the place of exile, St Clement found many Christians who were sentenced to labour under harsh conditions amidst a scarcity of water. He prayed together with the condemned, and the Lord appeared to him in the form of a lamb and revealed the location of a spring, from which gushed forth a veritable river of water. This miracle attracted a multitude of people to St Clement. Hearing the zealous preacher, hundreds of pagans became Christian each day, and a church was then built in the stone quarry in which he served as Priest.

The Apostolic activity of the Saint aroused the wrath of emperor Trajan in 101 AD, who ordered that St Clement be drowned. They threw the martyr into the sea with an anchor tied to his neck. The Saint’s faithful disciples Cornelios and Fibios asked the people to pray that the Lord would permit them to see the martyr’s body. The sea drew back a distance of about five kilometres from the shore and the people walked out on the seabed until they found a marble cave shaped like a church. There they found the incorrupt body of the Saint. Each year after, on the anniversary of the Saints martyrdom, the sea receded, and for seven days, Christians were able to venerate his holy relics.

St Clement is an Apostolic Father, and has left us two Epistles to the Corinthians, which are the first written examples of Christian teaching after the writings of the holy Apostles.

Dismissal Hymn (Fourth Tone)

O God of our Fathers, ever dealing with us according to Your gentleness; take not Your mercy from us, but by their entreaties guide our life in peace.

Kontakion (Fourth Tone)

O divine unshakeable towers of Christ’s Church, pillars of true piety who are most mighty and divine; Clement and Peter, all-acclaimed, by your entreaties, protect and guard all of us.

Peter, Archbishop of Alexandria

Saint Peter illustriously occupied the throne of Alexandria for twelve years, and, as Eusebius says, “was a divine example of a bishop on account of the excellence of his life and his study of the sacred Scriptures” (see Eusebius, Eccl. Hist., Book VII, 3 2; Book VIII 11, 13; and Book IX, 6). He excommunicated Arius for his sympathy with the Meletian schism. When Arius learned that Saint Peter had been imprisoned, he sent many priests and deacons to him, asking that he receive him back into the communion of the Church before his martyrdom. When the ambassadors of Arius, who had not, like Saint Peter, perceived the ruin he would engender, were astonished at the vehemence with which Saint Peter refused to receive Arius again, he revealed to them a dread vision he had seen, in which the Master Christ had appeared to him as a child wearing a garment torn from head to foot. When Saint Peter asked the Lord who rent His garment, the Lord answered that it was Arius, and that he must not be received back into communion. The holy hieromartyr Peter was beheaded during the reign of Maximinus in the year 312; he is called the “Seal of the Martyrs,” because he was the last Bishop of Alexandria to suffer martyrdom under the pagan Emperors. His successors to the throne of Alexandria, Saints Alexander and Athanasius the Great, brought to final victory the battle against Arius’ heresy which Saint Peter had begun.

Apolytikion of Peter, Archbishop of Alexandria in the Fourth Tone

O God of our Fathers, ever dealing with us according to Thy gentleness: take not Thy mercy from us, but by their entreaties guide our life in peace.

Kontakion of Peter, Archbishop of Alexandria in the Fourth Tone

O divine unshakeable towers of Christ’s Church, pillars of true piety who are most mighty and divine: Clement and Peter, ye all-acclaimed, by your entreaties, protect and guard all of us.

Afterfeast of the Entry of the Theotokos into the Temple

Apolytikion of Afterfeast of the Entry of the Theotokos in the Fourth ToneToday is the prelude of God’s pleasure and the proclamation of man’s salvation. The Virgin is clearly made manifest in the temple of God and foretells Christ to all. Let us also cry out to her with mighty voice, “Hail, fulfillment of the Creator’s dispensation.”

Great Martyr St Katherine

St Katherine, as a girl was not a Christian. She lived in the early fourth century Alexandria with her mother, a Christian, who raised her with the finest education.

Katherine’s mother took her to a holy man who began to describe Jesus Christ to her. He told her to pray all night before an icon of the Theotokos and Jesus. When Katherine fell asleep, she saw a vision of the Theotokos and Jesus, but Christ would not look at her, saying that she was unworthy. Jesus told her to return to the elder for instructions, which she did. The elder baptised her and sent her to keep a vigil all night and to fast and pray. She saw the vision again, but Jesus told her she was now worthy to behold. He gave her a ring, which was also on her finger when she awoke, and remains on her finger to this day.

The emperor Maximinus commanded a festival to be held to the gods and many animals were sacrificed. Watching this in sadness, Katherine went to the emperor and told him that his gods were demons of fantasies and illusions. She told him that there was only one God, whose word maintains the world.

Maximinus, fearing that she would embarrass him, assembled 150 orators to debate her. The Archangel Michael appeared and told her that God would add to her wisdom, and that she would save many. She refuted the orators with the words of their poets who proclaimed the gods, and she used the words of their gods who foretold of the times of Jesus Christ. The emperor condemned the 150 to death by fire. Before they died, Katherine made the sign of the Cross over them as she had converted them. They all died, but not even a hair of their heads was singed.

The emperor tried to win Katherine by flattery, to no avail. She was beaten, bloodied, and imprisoned. The emperor’s wife, his military commander, and 200 soldiers visited Katherine in prison, and all became Christians, but were beheaded by the emperor.

The emperor then asked Katherine to be his queen, if only she would worship his idols. When she refused, she went to the place of execution, followed by a crowd who mourned her. She told the unbelievers to mourn their own demise.

She prayed and was beheaded at the age of 18. Milk flowed from her wound. Her fragrant relics are at St Katherine’s monastery at Mount Sinai.

Dismissal Hymn (Plagal of the First Tone)

Let us praise the most auspicious bride of Christ, the divine Katherine, protectress of Sinai, our aid and our help. For, she brilliantly silenced the eloquence of the impious by the sword of the spirit, and now, crowned as a martyr, she asks great mercy for all.

Kontakion (Second Tone)

O friends of martyrs, now divinely raise up a renewed chorus, praising the all-wise Katherine. For, she proclaimed Christ in the arena, trampled on the serpent, and spat upon the knowledge of the orators.

Mercurius the Great Martyr of Caesarea in Cappadocia

Saint Mercurius came from Cappadocia, and was the son of Gordian, a Scythian. A young man, and a soldier of high rank, he refused to offer sacrifice to the idols, and after torments was beheaded during the reign of Valerian (253-260).

Apolytikion of Great Martyr Mercurius in the Fourth Tone

Thy Martyr, O Lord, in his courageous contest for Thee received the prize of the crowns of incorruption and life from Thee, our immortal God. For since he possessed Thy strength, he cast down the tyrants and wholly destroyed the demons’ strengthless presumption. O Christ God, by his prayers, save our souls, since Thou art merciful.

Apodosis of the Presentation of the Theotokos into the Temple

Apolytikion of Apodosis of the Entry in the Fourth Tone

Today is the prelude of God’s pleasure and the proclamation of man’s salvation. The Virgin is clearly made manifest in the temple of God and foretells Christ to all. Let us also cry out to her with mighty voice, “Hail, fulfillment of the Creator’s dispensation.”

Kontakion of Apodosis of the Entry in the Fourth Tone

Today, the most pure temple of the Savior, the precious bridal chamber and Virgin, the sacred treasure of God, enters the house of the Lord, bringing the grace of the Divine Spirit. The Angels of God praise her. She is the heavenly tabernacle.

Saint Stylianos was from Paphlagonia living in the latter 6th century and early 7th century. He loved the Lord Jesus Christ with his whole heart and lived in strict asceticism. When he fell asleep in the Lord, his face shone like the sun and an angel appeared to take his soul to Glory. His prayers have worked many miracles, both during his earthly life and since. He is of special help to children who are ill and to childless couples. He is known as a protector of orphans.

Apolytikion in the Third Tone

Holy Stylianos, thou wast a tower of abstinence and an unshaken pillar of the Church. Dedicated to God from thy youth, thou didst become a dwelling-place of the Spirit. O righteous Father, intercede with Christ our God to grant us His great mercy.

Alypius the Stylite of Adrianopolis

Saint Alypius was from Adrianople of Bithynia; having lived upon a pillar for fifty-three years, he reposed about the year 607, at the age of one hundred.

Apolytikion of Alypius the Stylite in the First Tone

Thou becamest a pillar of patience and didst emulate the Forefathers, O righteous one: Job in his sufferings, Joseph in temptations, and the life of the bodiless while in the body, O Alypius , our righteous Father, intercede with Christ God that our souls be saved.

Kontakion of Alypius the Stylite in the Plagal of the Fourth Tone

Today the Church doth glorify and hymn thee, O Alypius, as a foundation of virtues and comeliness of the ascetics and the monks. By thy prayers, as the namesake of true freedom from sorrow, free from their grievous sins all them that praise and honour thy struggles and deeds of excellence.

From on high didst Thou descend, O Compassionate One; to burial of three days hast Thou submitted that Thou mightest free us from our passions. O our Life and Resurrection, Lord, glory be to Thee.

Seasonal Kontakion in the Third Tone

On this day the Virgin cometh to the cave to give birth to * God the Word ineffably, * Who was before all the ages. * Dance for joy, O earth, on hearing * the gladsome tidings; * with the Angels and the shepherds now glorify Him * Who is willing to be gazed on * as a young Child Who * before the ages is God.

St James was from the city of Bythlaba and was of noble birth; he was the closest and most honoured friend of Isdiger (or Yazdegerd) I, King of Persia (reigned 399-420 AD). Though a Christian from his youth, James renounced Christ because he was allured by the King’s friendship and flatteries.

When his mother and his wife learned of this, they declared to him by letter that they would have nothing more to do with him, since he had preferred a glory that is temporal to the love of Christ. Wounded in soul by these words and coming to himself, the Saint wept over his error, and repudiated the worship of the idols. Therefore, becoming exceedingly wroth, the King – this was Bahram (or Varahran) V (reigned 421-438 AD), Isdiger’s son and successor – condemned him to a most bitter death, the likes of which not even a brute beast was ever condemned to: that is, his body was dismembered at every joint of his arms and legs. Therefore, when he had been cut asunder limb by limb to his very hips and shoulders, the courageous Martyr was finally beheaded, in 421 AD.

Dismissal Hymn (First Tone)

Be entreated, O Lord, by the sufferings endured for You by the Saints, and we pray You, heal all our pain.

Kontakion (Second Tone)

O stout-hearted James, persuaded by thy noble wife, and fearing the dread tribunal, you scorned all fear of the Persians with their profane decrees, and you were shown to be a most wondrous martyr of Christ, when all of thy body was pruned like a vine.

Saint Stephen the New

Righteous Stephen was born in Constantinople in 715 AD to pious parents named John and Anna. His mother had prayed often to the most holy Theotokos in her church at Blachernae to be granted a son, and one day received a revelation from our Lady that she would conceive the son she desired. When Anna had conceived, she asked the newly elected Patriarch Germanus (commemorated May 12) to bless the babe in her womb. He said, “May God bless him through the prayers of the holy First Martyr Stephen”. At that moment, Anna saw a flame of fire issue from the mouth of the holy Patriarch.

When the child was born, she named him Stephen, according to the prophecy of St Germanus. Stephen struggled in asceticism from his youth in Bithynia at the Monastery of St Auxentios, which was located at a lofty place called Mount Auxentios (commemorated February 14). Because of his extreme labours and great goodness, he was chosen by the hermits of Mount Auxentios to be their leader. The fame of his spiritual struggles reached the ears of all, and the fragrance of his virtue drew many to himself.

During the reign of Constantine V (741-775 AD), Stephen showed his love of Orthodoxy in contending for the Orthodox Faith. This Constantine was called Copronymus, that is, “namesake of dung”, because while being baptized he had soiled the waters of regeneration, giving a fitting token of what manner of impiety he would later embrace. Besides being a fierce Iconoclast, Constantine raised up a ruthless persecution of monasticism. He held a council in 754 AD that anathematized the holy icons. Because St Stephen rejected this council, the Emperor framed false accusations against him and exiled him. However, while in exile St Stephen performed healings with holy icons and turned many away from Iconoclasm. When he was brought before the Emperor again, he showed him a coin and asked whose image the coin bore. “Mine”, said the tyrant. “If any man trample upon your image, is he liable to punishment?” asked the Saint.

When they that stood by answered yes, the Saint groaned because of their blindness, and said if they thought dishonouring the image of a corruptible king worthy of punishment, what torment would they receive who trampled upon the image of the Master Christ and of the Mother of God? Then he threw the coin to the ground and trampled on it. He was condemned to eleven months in bonds and imprisonment. Later, he was dragged over the earth and was stoned, like Stephen the First Martyr; therefore he is called Stephen the New. Finally, he was struck with a wooden club on the temple and his head was shattered, and thus he gave up his spirit in 767 AD.

Dismissal Hymn (Fourth Tone)

Trained on the mountain in ascetical labours, with the whole armour of the Cross you vanquished the spiritual arrays of unseen enemies; and when you stripped yourself with great courage for contest, you slayed Copronymus with the sword of the true Faith. For both these things you have been crowned by God, O righteous Martyr, blest Stephen of great renown.

Kontakion (Plagal of the Fourth Tone)

With songs and hymns, O feast-lovers, let us all extol the godly Stephen, that great lover of the Trinity, for he honoured with his whole heart the beautiful image of the Master, of His Mother, and of all the Saints. Now with one accord, with longing, and with joy of heart, let us cry to him: Rejoice, O Father most glorious.

Irenarchos & his Companion Martyrs at Sebaste

Saint Irenarchos, who was from Sebastia, lived during the reign of Diocletian. In his youth he ministered to the holy Martyrs during the time of their punishment in prison. Once, on beholding seven women being tormented in behalf of Christ, and marvelling at their courage, and seeing how, although they were weak in body, they nonetheless became like men before the tyrant and put him to shame, the Saint was enlightened by divine grace and confessed Christ with boldness. Tried by fire and water, he was beheaded together with the holy women in the year 298.

Apolytikion of Martyr Irenarchos in the Fourth Tone

Thy Martyr, O Lord, in his courageous contest for Thee received the prize of the crowns of incorruption and life from Thee, our immortal God. For since he possessed Thy strength, he cast down the tyrants and wholly destroyed the demons’ strengthless presumption. O Christ God, by his prayers, save our souls, since Thou art merciful.

Kontakion of Martyr Irenarchos in the Plagal of the Fourth Tone

As a triumphant man of war enlisted with the Prince of Peace, the prince of darkness didst thou destroy utterly in thy courageous martyrdom. And now, by thine entreaties, do thou ever preserve in peace and in godliness, O Martyr Irenarchos, all them that acclaim thy valiant deeds.

Paramonus, Philumenus and their 370 Companion Martyrs in Bithynia

St Paramonus contested for piety’s sake during the reign of Decius, in 250 AD. A ruler named Aquilinus, seeking relief from a bodily malady, visited a certain therapeutic hot spring. He brought with him captive Christians from Nicomedia, and commanded them to offer sacrifice in the temple of Isis. When they refused, he had them all slaughtered, to the number of 370. Saint Paramonus, beholding their murder, boldly cried out against such an act of ungodliness. When Aquilinus heard this, he sent men to take the Saint. Some smote him with spears; others pierced his tongue and body with sharp reeds, until he died.

St Philumenus’ contest in martyrdom took place during the reign of Aurelian, in 270 AD. Coming from Lycaonia, he was conveying a load of wheat into Galatia when he was denounced as a Christian to Felix, Governor of Ancyra. Nails were driven into his hands, feet, and head, and he was commanded to run. While running in the road, he fell and gave up his holy soul into the hands of God.

Dismissal Hymn (Fourth Tone)

Your Martyrs, O Lord, in their courageous contest for You received as the prize the crowns of incorruption and life from You, our immortal God. For since they possessed Your strength, they cast down the tyrants and wholly destroyed the demons’ powerless presumption. O Christ God, by their prayers, save our souls, since You are merciful.

Kontakion (Second Tone)

Enlisted by Christ through faith and through your fervent love, you cut down the ranks of all the wicked enemies; and upon receiving the crown of victory, O wise Paramonus and most godly Philumenus, you now dwell together with Angel’s hosts.

We Also Celebrate Today:

Our Righteous Father Nicholas, Archbishop of ThessolonicaDionysios, Bishop of CorinthAkakios of Sinai who is mentioned in The LadderPhaedrus the Martyr

As the first to be called by Jesus Christ into his service, St Andrew commands a reverence a degree greater than those who have followed. For this reason, St Andrew is called Protokletos, or “First-called”.

St Andrew, like his brother St Peter, was a fisherman, a toiler with net and boat recognised in the Psalms of the Old Testament as one of those “who go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; these see the works of the Lord and his wonders in the deep”. His love of the sea stemmed from his love of the Creator who made it, and the perils of the sea which he challenged daily forged the character with which he boldly assailed the seas of ignorance and paganism in the sacred trust that had been placed in his keeping.

St Andrew, who lived in the Holy Land in the ancient city of Bethsaida, accepted Christ with all his heart and after a discipleship with St John the Baptist went forth to become one of the greatest missionaries in all history. When the apostles drew lots to determine their sphere of labour for the Saviour, St Andrew exulted in his mission to preach in Asia Minor, part of Greece, and an area along the coast of the Black Sea, including its gateway, the city now known as Istanbul, or Constantinople.

Wherever St Andrew went he attracted throngs of people who thirsted for a spiritual knowledge. His message of deliverance was so eloquently convincing, even to hostile minds, that he is credited with having converted countless thousands to Christianity in a day when mass media did not exist. As an apostle, his only tools were his power of oratory and his love for Jesus, and his only press agent was the word of mouth of those privileged to hear his homilies.

St Andrew came to Jerusalem for the First Synod of the Apostles, about 50 AD, another historic first for him and the other apostles, some of whom he had not yet met. There he rejoiced in joining the great St Peter together with those but for whom Christianity might never have become the glorious human experience it is today. Out of the Synod, the apostles went forth with renewed vigour to establish the ecclesiastical system.

St Andrew alone is credited with having set up parishes throughout Asia Minor, in Pontos, Bithynia, Thrace, Macedonia, Greece, Scythia (Russia, where he is still regarded as patron saint) and in the capital city of Byzantium. It was in Byzantium that St Andrew ordained Stachys as first bishop of Byzantium (later Constantinople), thereby establishing an unbroken line of 270 patriarchs down to the present day Patriarch Bartholomeos I. From Byzantium, St Andrew went on to more glory through his compelling oratory and power of healing through Jesus Christ. He eventually found himself in Achaia, in the city of Patras, where he was to suffer death.

St Andrew committed the grave crime in the eyes of the state of converting Maximilla, wife of the ruler Aigeates, to Christianity. Despite the fact that he was then eighty years old, it was ordered that he be put to death by being nailed upside down to an X-shaped cross. After three days of agony on this vile device, St Andrew died. The great fisherman had cast his net for Christ for the last time. St Andrew’s remains were brought to Constantinople two hundred years later and in 1460 AD his head was given to the Pope. On 24 September 1964, in an ecumenical gesture, the head was returned to the people of Patras by the Pope of Rome.

Dismissal Hymn (Fourth Tone)

As first of the Apostles to be called, O Andrew, brother of the foremost disciple, beseech the Master of all to grant the world peace and our souls great mercy.

Kontakion (Second Tone)

Let us praise the namesake of bravery, the divinely eloquent and first to be called of the Disciples of Christ, the kinsman of Peter. As he called out to him in days of old, so now he calls to us, “Come, we have found Him for whom we yearned”.

We also celebrate today:

Froumentios, Archbishop of AbyssinaAlexander the Wonderworker, Archbishop of Mithymna

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